| Abstract: | The ability of the cupric sulphate-hydrazine hydrate redox system to induce vinyl graft polymerization onto wool fibres was studied under different conditions. The magnitude of grafting is governed by concentrations of cupric ions, hydrazine hydrate and monomer as well as pH and temperature of the polymerization medium. Detailed studies were carried out on grafting of wool with methyl methacrylate though ethyl acrylate and styrene were also used. Cupric ions were also replaced by ferric ions in some experiments. Main conclusions arrived at from these studies are: (a) there are optimal concentrations of cupric ion and hydrazine hydrate, (b) the grafting reaction is more favoured at higher (pH higher than 7) than that at lower pH's (pH less than 5), (c) 70°C constitutes the optimal temperature for grafting, (d) the graft yield increases by increasing methyl methacrylate concentration, (e) replacement of cupric ion by ferric ion lowers the rate of grafting and (f) the highest graft yield is obtained with methyl methacrylate and the lowest with styrene. |
